Italy Checklist: Sponsoring Highly Skilled Migrant Visas
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What if you could hire the perfect candidate without ever worrying about which country they lived in? Over the past few years, work-from-anywhere wasn’t just a pandemic trend—it became a full-blown corporate revolution. In 2026, HR leaders took a crash course in turning digital nomads into compliant, engaged employees. Let’s dive deep into what the past taught us, what’s working today, and how your company can ride the global mobility wave.
Rewind a few years and “digital nomad” conjured images of freelancers sipping lattes by the beach in Bali. Fast-forward to 2026: major corporations are hiring talent without borders, using global mobility solutions to do it legally and efficiently. According to a 2025 report by Gartner, 76% of multinational companies offered location flexibility, up from just 30% pre-2020.
What changed? COVID-19 obviously accelerated remote work, but the real inflection point was the corporate embrace of distributed teams. As access to cloud-based platforms and international payroll providers matured, it became feasible for HR to manage employees across continents. The demand for global compliance, tax optimization, and business continuity meant a seismic shift from ad-hoc remote work to structured, policy-driven global mobility programs.
The data tells a compelling story. In 2026, Deloitte found that companies with robust global mobility solutions experienced 34% higher talent retention. That’s not pocket change. A study by PwC also revealed that organizations using tech-based mobility platforms like xpath.global slashed their onboarding time by 40% and reduced compliance incidents by half.
Why the drastic improvement? When HR teams leverage global mobility tools, they automate payroll, tax documentation, and immigration processes. This not only speeds up hiring but also makes relocating employees frictionless. Consider Shopify: after moving to a remote-first model, they attracted talent from 60+ countries, citing global support systems as the backbone of their success story.
If 2026 taught us anything, it’s that the devil is in the details. Managing distributed teams can get messy fast—think payroll nightmares, compliance black holes, or culture burnout. The top three hurdles HR leaders faced included:
That’s where comprehensive global mobility solutions like xpath.global step in. They centralize compliance, automate documentation, and let HR focus on what matters: people, not paperwork.
Let’s look at a real-life example. A European fintech startup wanted to tap into developer talent worldwide, but their manual HR processes kept tripping them up: delayed onboarding, visa headaches, misclassified contractors…the usual suspects. Enter xpath.global. By integrating this solution, they automated everything from work permits to payroll, cutting HR workload in half and slashing onboarding from eight weeks to just three. Just as impressive, their employee satisfaction soared—annual survey scores improved by 28%.
This isn’t a “one-off magic trick.” Across industries, similar stories are playing out. The difference? Companies that partner with the right tech and talent partners are the ones winning the borderless future.
So, what’s next? The global mobility world is only getting more dynamic. By late 2026, AI-powered compliance monitoring and predictive analytics are standard in leading platforms. HR can forecast relocation hurdles, budget more accurately, and personalize the expatriate experience. There’s also growing demand for “work-from-anywhere” policies baked into company culture—86% of job seekers in a 2026 Glassdoor survey rated this flexibility as “essential.”
But new regulations and geopolitical shakeups mean compliance will remain a moving target. Companies are waking up to the need for partners like xpath.global, with their global reach and granular compliance updates, to future-proof their workforce strategies.
Here’s the bottom line: Being able to offer work-from-anywhere is no longer just a perk—it’s the only way to attract and keep world-class talent. But as 2026 showed, only companies with the right global mobility frameworks avoid chaos and scale with confidence. Don’t get stuck in the past. It’s time to explore smarter global mobility solutions, streamline compliance, and keep your team connected—anywhere on the planet.
What is a global mobility solution?
It’s a set of policies, tech platforms, and services that help businesses hire, relocate, and support employees across borders, ensuring compliance with local laws and minimizing administrative burden.
Why is global mobility important for remote work?
As teams become distributed, companies must comply with international tax, visa, and employment laws. A robust mobility solution minimizes risk and keeps the employee experience positive.
How does xpath.global help?
Xpath.global centralizes all aspects of employee relocation and cross-border hiring, from compliance checks to payroll automation, helping HR teams save time and avoid regulatory headaches.
What are the common challenges in supporting digital nomads corporately?
The main pain points are regulatory compliance, payroll complexity, time zone management, and maintaining company culture across geographies.
How can my organization implement a successful mobility program?
Start by auditing current procedures, invest in the right technology (like xpath.global), set clear policies, and provide support resources for your mobile talent.
Ready to transform your mobility program? Explore xpath.global’s solutions.
Italy Checklist: Sponsoring Highly Skilled Migrant Visas
Grab a copy of a guide to international employee relocation
View E-book